Abdominal Key

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The diaphragm, the most important muscle of respiration, separates the thorax and the abdomen. It can be injured in isolation or involved with injury in either…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Injuries to the chest are common following both blunt and penetrating trauma. Blunt thoracic injuries are responsible for approximately 8% of all trauma admissions in the…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Despite advances in emergency medical systems (EMS) and trauma care, deaths from injury have increased in the United States over the last decade.1 In both the…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Airway is the first priority for all civilian trauma patients in the prehospital setting, emergency department, and throughout their hospitalization. In all situations, failure to oxygenate…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The number of patients arriving at hospitals in extremis, rather than expiring in the prehospital setting, has increased due to the maturation of regionalized trauma systems…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Shock is defined as the inadequate delivery of oxygen to tissues leading to cellular dysfunction and injury. In 1872 Gross described shock as a “rude unhinging…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Death after traumatic injury has classically been described in terms of a trimodal distribution. Immediate and acute (<24 hours) deaths usually result from uncontrolled hemorrhage, but…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Critically injured patients must receive high-quality care from the earliest post-injury moment to have the best chance of survival. Most trauma victims first receive health care…